When using Notes scheduled agents we have the ability to easily find all the documents in the database that were created and/or modified since the Agent last ran.

Inside the code we then just access a NotesDocumentCollection of all the new documents, like so:

Dim collection as NotesDocumentCollection
Set collection = db.UnprocessedDocuments

All is well, until you want to restrict the documents you process. To do this the Notes Way you add a Document Selection criteria to the Agent, like so:

So now the collection of documents will be restricted to those built using the Form "post" and those where the field called Approved has a value of "0".

At least that's the way I've always assumed it to work. I always have trouble getting it to work as I'd expect it to though. Recently I cooked-up an alternative that I think is much cleaner and less error-prone.

The Alternative

A newby to Notes looking at the code above might wonder how on earth it works. It's not unless you know about (and notice) the Document Selection part that you'll see how the document selection is being made.

Another, much cleaner (in that somebody reading your code can see what's going on directly from the script), method is to build the document collection ourselves, based on the time the agent last ran.

Here's how:

Set thisAgent = Session.currentAgent
        
If thisAgent.HasRunSinceModified Then 
 query = {Form="post" & @Created>=[}+Cstr(thisAgent.LastRun) +{] 
  & Approved="0"}
Else 
 query = {Form="post" & @Created>=@Adjust(@Now; 0; 0; -1; 0; 0; 0) 
  & Approved="0"} 
End If
 
Set collection = db.Search(query, Nothing, 0)

Et, voila! You can now build the collection exactly as you want it and it's always immediately obvious what's going on to the next person.

Notice how, if the agent has been modified then we need to cater for this as the LastRan property can be used. In my case I just look for all documents in the last 24 hours.

A Little Gotcha

I don't know how the logic behind the Notes Way works but there's a gotcha in this method. If, for whatever reason, the agent takes a long time to run one day then the LastRun property could be, let's say, 10 minutes after it started. So, any documents created in that 10 minute gap won't be included the next time the agent runs.

You can get round this by wrapping the LastRun date with an @Adjust like this:

@Created>=@Adjust([}+Cstr(thisAgent.LastRun) +{];0;0;0;0;0;-30) 

I've taken 30 seconds off. How many you do depends on how long you think it might take.

Puttin It To Use On CodeStore

I first put this technique to use on a "document indexing system" for a client. I then remembered it and used it last week while making a change to the way codestore's backend runs.

Until last week every comment posted on this site triggered an individual email to me. This meant I spent a lot of time deleting email from spammers who often attack in waves of 30 or more messages a time. This distraction cost me time and hence money.

I now have a two-hourly agent that sends me a summary email of unapproved comments (those on blogs older than a week). I then glance over it to look for real names (surprisingly obvious which are, as most my spam comes from the likes of "zyzuaeyuwqhun"). I now delete one email every two hours rather than 30 or more. Doesn't sound like much but it has made a big difference.

The down side is that legit posters on old blog entries have to wait up to 2 hours to see it go live. This happens so rarely that it's not really an issue.

My fight to keep the site CAPTCHA-free continues!